


We Aren't All Good

by Welcome2MyWorld



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: ...I think..., Gen, Good Deceit, Hurt/Comfort, Original Character(s), Startrek references, Thomas is mentioned - Freeform, ack mah heart, plez don't judge meh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-10-08 10:38:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17384927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Welcome2MyWorld/pseuds/Welcome2MyWorld
Summary: So we know what happens if Virgil ducks out (quack), but what if one of the other Sides left? What would happen, how would the others react? A journey into the deepest parts of the mind where the sun doesn't shine (thanks Roman) is what they need to find the answer and bring the lost Side home safe.Alternatively titled: The Darkest Side





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so first of all, this is some weird shit that hasn't left my brain and is to do with the Sides. I don't know why but it hasn't left so I decided to try and make a thing out of it. Please don't judge me too harshly, but criticism will be noted (in a good way!). \^-^/

Patton knocked on Logan’s door and waited patiently, listening to Roman and Virgil have a ‘friendly argument’ over Disney movies. It was as friendly as you could get when Virgil was tired over the classics but Roman wanted to watch the classics. Patton himself wasn’t bothered over what film they watched, as long as it was good and Disney was always good.

He knocked again and gently pushed the door open, peering in.

“Logan? You coming to watch the film? I think this one’s gonna be really good!”

He heard the conversation downstairs turn to musicals instead and rolled his eyes fondly at how they changed subject. At hearing no response to the question, he turned his head to look properly at the room, walking in.

Before he stopped.

Instead of it being the usual tidy bedroom, organised to a T and calming, it was blank. White. An empty space that seemed wrong.

Well, not completely empty. There was one thing lying on the floor. A piece of paper. _Oh no_ , he thought, fearing the worst from the logical side. _Why this?_ It didn’t make any sense to Patton, more so now that Logan had seemingly vanished. At first, he thought it would be a joke but when he picked up the note, he could tell it was real.

The note read thus:

**_To any of you reading this,_ **

**_I have decided to leave you, not in a bad way, but in a way that would give you a break. I keep annoying you all with facts and stopping your fun by shoving reality in your face. For now, I should go and let you three run the show._**  
  
_**I may not come back.**_  
  
_**Logic.**_

Patton dropped the note on the floor, where it poofed out of existence. He couldn’t even cry. Logan had dumped words onto a piece of paper and erased everything about himself from the mindspace. They couldn’t work without Logan; he made sense of everything that they didn’t, he understood long words (except infinitesimal it seemed), he kept them together even if he didn’t believe it.

_If one goes down, they all go down._

That was one of the first few things Patton had thought about this whole thing. Another was how Logan addressed himself at the end.

_Logic._

Logan hadn’t been called Logic for a long time. Ever since Patton accidentally revealed his name, it had been used by Thomas, Patton, Roman, Virgil and the whole fandom. He had been loved dearly, everyone had favourites and everyone had stories.

Slowly, he sank to the floor, staring blankly at the room. The others would freak out if they knew that Logan had left. Patton started to panic, mind flickering through half-baked options that would never see the light of day. Until he settled on one. It would probably never work but he had to do something. Virgil and Roman could probably manage if **he** left.  
  
_To be Logan, I could pretend. Right? But that’s lying…I can’t do that! No, they need this, they’ll be less confused. Well, they’ll be confused anyway but-_  

His train of thought was interrupted by Roman yelling up to the room, asking if they were coming down sometime today.

“Yes, in a minute.”

His voice resembled Logan’s perfectly.  
  
“Alright, don’t be too long, or Virgil will fall asleep here.”

Patton didn’t hear the complaint that came as a response. His mind was buzzing at how he should go about the situation but he noticed that the room had changed slightly. Lifting his head, Patton saw golden sparks floating around, buzzing with an energy he rarely felt. This was normally something Roman would do but he noticed that he was doing this without realising it. He stood, concentrating on the room, remembering the layout of Logan’s room as best he could.

When he opened his eyes, he smiled a little, happy with his work. The room was the exact same as what he’d seen before. Next, he focused on himself and made it look as if he was Logan. They did wear the same glasses after all. Patton said a few words and tweaked his voice to sound like Logan, before taking a deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment to brace himself. It would take a little bit for the others to realise something was off but he hoped it wouldn’t be too short a time. He needed to prepare for this properly in his head.

Stepping out of his room, ‘Logan’ walked down the stairs to join Roman and Virgil on the sofa. Virgil raised his eyes to look at him but otherwise didn’t move.

“Where’s Patton?”  
  
“He said he had something he needed to do.”

“Cool.”

And no more was said. Roman started the musical (they had finally settled on The Phantom of the Opera) and the three of them sat, waiting for ‘Patton’ to return.

 

**_2 Hours Earlier_ **

 

Logan was sat, flicking through the latest notes on the new video idea Roman had thrown at him. He sighed tiredly, rubbing the bridge of his nose under his glasses. The idea was, as always, extravagant and basically impossible but Logan saw something in it so he decided to work at it. Laughter floated up to him as the other Sides got ready for a movie night. This had almost become a tradition, a bit like how Patton was determined to hug all of them before they went to bed. Being a fatherly Side, it made sense.

Placing the notes in his draw, he set his desk straight, clearing it of anything that wasn’t necessary. Laughter sounded behind him and at first he thought that it was from downstairs, until the air turned cool. Logan sat up straight and slowly turned around to see a floating image behind him. It seemed to be laughing but whether it was at him or the other Sides, he couldn’t tell.

“Who are you?”  
  
His voice was solid, if not a little wary.

“JusT a FriEnD…” The voice echoed around the room, sending chills down Logan’s spine. There were many strange things about the voice but one thing stood out with glaring clarity.

The voice was female.


	2. The Darkest Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Now Logic...let's see what I can do for you, hm?"  
> "What can you do for me?"  
> "Good question!"
> 
> The Darkest Side of them all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, alternative title drop.
> 
> Roll credits!

“Now Logic…let’s see what I can do for you, hm?”

Logan walked through the room with wariness and slight awe, despite everything he knew telling him that this was a bad place to be. The image had led him to a door he had never seen before. Then it had faded into a Side, real and there and able to be seen in full force. She had smiled and taken him gently, leading him through an invisible obstacle course and nodding to people he couldn’t see. Nothing made any logical sense and so Logan, the embodiment of Thomas’ logic, was confused by almost everything he came across.

“What can you do for me?”

“Good question!”

She smirked and stopped moving, leaning against a pillar that materialised behind her in an instant. Around her, green sparks fired off, crackling in the air in miniature explosions. Logan tried not to flinch as one got a little too close for comfort.

“Am I making you uncomfortable, my dear?”

He didn’t know how to answer, so he said nothing.

The woman grinned and leaned closer, electricity running along Logan’s glasses playfully.

**“I asked you a question Logic.”**

He shook his head quickly, clearly startled. She chuckled lightly and pulled back, still with a smile on her lips and an unnerving look in her eyes.

“You want to be useful, yes? Especially when the ones you call friends don’t appreciate you enough. I can give you what you desire most.”

At that, all Logan could think about was the Mirror of Erised, so he silently berated Roman for that. He never removed his gaze from the woman’s eyes, trapped by them yet pulled in and shown freedom.

“Freedom is but a few words away Logic.”

Her nonchalant attitude was off-putting. He was in a place that was completely black and he had never seen it before but there was **definitely** a strange feeling about this room.

“F-first, who are you?”

He hated that his voice broke but the situation was a challenging one.

Her laugh was loud in the deathly silence of the room, rooting Logan to the spot as she eyed him curiously, eyes glowing with that eerie green that seemed to be a constant thing surrounding her.

“You don’t need to know yet, my dear Logic. But I would **love** to hear your name.”

She curled around him in a snake-like fashion, legs seeming to disappear into wispy smoke that still had some resemblance to electricity. A Cheshire-cat grin was plastered on her face and if Logan looked closely, he could see little green flames in the Side’s eyes.

“I…..I asked first.”

She stroked his face gently, mocking him with the motion.

“And I have you scared stiff. Do you think I care who asked first?”

Though her tone was light, the logical Side could sense the dark undertones and it made his mind go blank. Shutting his eyes, he steeled himself and thought about all the things this woman had said.

_They don’t appreciate me._

_I break up their fun._

_I intrude on what they love._

_I give life facts that ruin fantasy._

_I’m emotionless to them._

_I’m a robot to them._

_T̘h̻͎e̮̭̻̰̼̦̰y̡͖̺’͔̞͕̝͔̜͡r̷͙̣̱e̮̬͕̱ͅ ̰̥̣̮̦͔͙b̯͙e͚̞ţ̙͓t̢̪͎̦e̮͇͎ͅͅr͏̦͎̩ ̶̟o͎̪̟̤̯͖ͅf̥̭f̸̩ ̴̜̭̭̝̞w̪̟̻̹̣̼̜i͎̣t̝̙̺̙̲h̖͉̥̱͜o҉̤ṵ̰̬̺t̘̮̗͉̜̮ ̵̦̺̞͈m̟e͚̣̣̼͔._

He didn’t realise, in the turmoil of his thoughts, that that thought was different, that it had more of a push behind it. A sinister push.

Logan’s thoughts kept spiralling downwards, falling further into what would be seen as illogical by any sane Vulcan. But now he had broken, eyes tinted by the same electric green that surrounded the female Side. She still had the grin on her face as she listened to the sound of the most stable Side breaking. In the babble, she heard one word that interested her.

A name.

His name.

“Well, it looks like you’re ready to know my name. **Logan** **.** ”

At the sound of his name, the mentioned Side stopped his flow of random words, standing up and looking at her with blank confidence.

“What is it?”

His voice had changed, becoming flatter than usual. In his eyes, the female could see that he was scared and confused, trying his best to stay out of her control. But it was too late, she knew his name now.

 

“My name is Insanity. A pleasure to meet you at last. ~”


	3. Friend Or Foe?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton’s been questioning if he’s doing the right thing. Without the help of the smartest one of them all, (or at least in book smarts) Patton finds his answers from an unlikely source.
> 
> But that just ends up creating more questions than he’s able to cope with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Patton is breaking my heart T-T
> 
> Please remember that Virgil and Roman don’t know about the ‘switch’ between Logan and Patton, so if any wording confuses you, go back to Chapter 1 and read it again.

To say that he was in shock was an understatement. Virgil just stared at Logan, expression unreadable.

“What do you mean ‘he’s gone’?”

“I mean, Virgil, that he’s gone. Patton isn’t here anymore.”

Logan crossed his arms as Virgil tried to put together some sort of explanation for this. But he couldn’t fathom why Patton would ever leave them. He was emotion and memory, something unique that couldn’t change or be replaced. His mind, being what it was, began to spin, gravitating towards the worst options possible.

_Patton wouldn’t do that._ He thought, trying to steer clear from depressing ideas. However, the more he tried not thinking about it, the more he couldn’t help but focus on the not good, the bad and the downright ugly. Closing his eyes for a second, Virgil tried to breathe normally, blocking out the torrent of thoughts that threatened to spill out of his mouth in an incomprehensible rabble.

_In for four. Hold for seven. Out for eight. Repeat._

A couple of cycles and the turbulent sea in his mind calmed a little, better but not completely still. He turned to see how Roman was taking this.

 

Roman swore that his jaw was embedded in the floor. Many minutes of internal screaming later and the prince closed his mouth, eyes wide and left hand twitching by his sheathed sword.

“Note…could he…? Maybe? I…I don’t…”  
  
Roman clearly couldn’t keep his thoughts to himself in his mounting concern, so broken sentences floated between them, half-asking the question that they daren’t speak aloud.

 

Patton kept his face neutral, determined to not show them that he was still there and that it was really Logan that had gone. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a piece of paper that was folded into four and only slightly lopsided. He had written and folded it personally to keep up the charade. On the inside, Patton was in pieces over the knowledge of his actions. He hated lying to people and yet here he was, unable to stop himself from hiding the truth of the matter. The reactions of Roman and Virgil made it so much worse and he had to squeeze his arm behind his back to stop himself from breaking to give them a hug, to tell them that he was still there. But the repercussions of that were too much to think about.

It was all too much to think about.

This was probably one of the worst things he had ever done and he knew he’d never be able to forgive himself for it.

“Wow Logan, looks like you’re as warm as ever.”

That voice got their attention. Turning their heads, Virgil, Roman and Patton could see an unfortunately familiar figure, sitting in a nonchalant fashion on the stairs.

Lo and behold, Deceit himself was present in the room. A smirk graced his features as he glided across the room towards them, rubbing his hands together idly. Although he had done nothing to them yet, everyone backed up slightly. They could remember when he had impersonated Patton and tricked them all, making the fatherly Side realise he was doing the exact same thing here. This thought jarred him, tears pricking the edge of his eyes but Patton blinked them away.

Logan didn’t cry.

 

Virgil was bristling with discomfort. Deceit made every fibre of his body scream at him to get away and the liar seemed to love being as close as he could to him. The anxious Side shifted, watching Deceit with eyes that held nerves and a burning hatred. He would never feel safe with that snake around.

 

Roman felt physically ill at the sight of Deceit. Sure, he gave compliments, but Logan had told him later on that they were false words. Afterwards, Roman had needed to rethink a lot of things that he had been told and his self-esteem was hit pretty hard. Patton had decided to rope everyone in and help cheer him up, which was comforting. However, it seemed that Patton had not only ducked out (quack), but had left entirely, leaving a large and painful cavity in his place.

 

Deceit’s gaze scanned them, stopping at ‘Logan’ with an amused glint. _So he willingly does what he hates. Strange…_ Being a master of trickery, he noticed almost immediately that it wasn’t Patton that was gone, but Logan. The fact that Patton was pretending to be Logan was a truly baffling concept and Deceit was genuinely intrigued as to the reason. His expression softened slightly as he gestured towards Patton.

“May I talk to you, **Logan**?”

There was no lie in the sentence he spoke, except the name he used. Of course, being the only non-core Side that he knew of to know their names, he could use them to make a point. The point this time was to subtly tell Patton that he knew. He’d noticed the switch in an instant.

 

Patton stiffened at the use of Logan’s name, but something was different about it. Perhaps it was the fact that Deceit had spoken it, or perhaps it was something else. Something like the underlying tone of knowledge that wormed its way into his head. Panic once again bubbled within him, planting seeds of doubt firmly in his plan. His plan that was already unravelling itself and laying all his faults out for everyone to see.

Glancing back at the other Sides, Patton joined Deceit by the stairs, wary of him and what he had done before. Hopefully, he could still cling onto some shred of – well – **morality**. Although right now, it seemed all of that had flown out of the window and he was left defenceless in the face of a great power.

One that could make or break him.

 

_The expression. The voice. Logan’s reaction. What do they know? What are they hiding? Is Logan working with Deceit? Did they force Patton out? Has Logan betrayed us?_

Virgil noted all the little details that others might skip over, filing them away somewhere and taping questions to them. He hoped that things would sort themselves out before his mind took another trip to ‘Fear Valley’. Virgil was a lot closer to the truth than he realised but oblivion was the best option for the anxious Side. He looked to Roman, who also seemed a little on edge, and decided to drag him into the kitchen before Deceit got run through with a sword.

“Virgil…?”

“Yeah, I’ve no clue either.”

“Will he be alright?”  
  
“Who, Logan? Yeah, I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

“Uh-huh.”

Clearly, the creative Side had got a larger shock than he would have liked to admit from seeing Deceit again. Virgil smirked at him, waiting to see if he would break out of whatever trance he was in while occasionally glancing back at Logan and Deceit. He couldn’t see their faces properly but he could tell that whatever they were talking about, it was an intense subject.

 

Roman only partially understood where he was taken and what he said to Virgil. Deceit was bad news, no matter how genuine he seemed and seeing him so suddenly put Roman off. His eyes were locked on the two talkers, glazed over. He sort of saw through them for a while until a hand blocked his vision, making Roman snap back to reality and look at the offending Side with mild annoyance.

“What?”

“You spaced out.”  
  
“I did not!”  
  
“You’ve been standing there like a zombie for a good five minutes Princey. He put you off that much?”  
  
Roman glared at Virgil, mumbling under his breath that he wasn’t put off, but the evidence against him was enough to make him concede to the fact that Deceit showing up out of nowhere was a startling prospect for him. Shaking his head, Roman watched Logan carefully, trying to determine what they were talking about whilst avoiding looking at Deceit because, if he was being honest, the half-snake-face thing gave him chills. He couldn’t trust him and looking at Virgil, Roman could tell he didn’t trust Deceit either, if the sour expression was anything to go by.

 

Patton was practically quaking in his shoes. The look in Deceit’s eyes told him everything he needed to know. That he knew what Patton had done; what he was still doing now. Swallowing his nerves, the moral Side sat with Deceit on the stairs, waiting for him to reveal what he knew and expose him, through lies, to the other Sides.

But something else happened first.

Deceit began to softly glow, white light outlining him against the wall.

As the wall was a similar colour to the glow, it wasn’t that noticeable but in their close proximity; Patton couldn’t deny that the lying Side was, in fact, glowing. It soon faded, leaving Deceit exactly the same as before. The only difference was that his yellow eye wasn’t yellow anymore, but the same warm, soft brown of the other Sides.

“Your eyes…match.”

Patton knew it was a dumb thing to say but he really didn’t know what else to comment on. That was the only change, as far as he knew.

Deceit nodded, looking at Patton with an odd expression. Patton himself couldn’t help it when his eyes widened, eyebrows drawing together in confusion. Deceit had **agreed** with him, subsequently telling the truth. If Deceit always lied, telling the truth wasn’t possible…was it?

 

“Your eyes…match.”

Deceit nodded at Patton’s words, ensuring that Patton saw that the truth was possible. The expression that came through on Patton’s face was absolutely priceless and Deceit smiled in amusement, letting the moral Side think for a while. However, without Logan present, it would be more difficult than usual to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

“You’re confused, aren’t you?”

Patton slowly nodded, eliciting a chuckle from Deceit. _This may take longer than I thought._ Deceit wasn’t sure if any of them would understand, but if Patton got it then he could persuade the others to work with him, what with Patton pretending to be Logan and all.

“With truth comes lies. Therefore, with lies comes the truth. I don’t always lie, Patton, but that is my main role. I am the embodiment of lies and trickery, hence the name ‘Deceit’. Understand?”

“I…I think so?”  
  
Deceit waited patiently as Patton stared at the wall behind him, eyes flickering to different points of the wall as he sorted through what Deceit had told him.

“So, the glow thing. That means you tell the truth now?”  
  
Patton looked at him with curiosity burning in his eyes. As he looked like Logan, it was very similar to how the logical side looked when he had found something new and interesting to read about. The only divergence was the almost child-like expression that graced Patton’s features, differentiating him from the stoic way Logan usually viewed things.

Deceit nodded again, explaining that the colour determined the way he spoke and acted. Green for a lie, white for the truth. The conversation turned to deeper subjects and soon enough, Deceit couldn’t avoid asking Patton why he was pretending to be Logan.

The moral Side’s eyes dropped, studying the ground intently. An embarrassed blush tinted his cheeks and Deceit could see tears shining in Patton’s eyes. He felt a small twinge in his heart; Patton looked so broken, vulnerable. Deceit wanted to comfort him in some way but he was conscious of Roman and Virgil watching them. One wrong move and they’d swoop in to remove Patton and then he’d never know why he was pretending. Why he was doing what he despised.

_Please. I want to help you, but only if you talk to me._

Deceit was surprisingly nice, when he wasn’t forced to lie 24/7. Eventually, Patton turned to face him with a tortured expression, taking a shaky breath before diving into his explanation.

“L-Logan’s gone and…I-I didn’t want them to worry so I thought…maybe…this would be best. But now…now I don’t know. Was it good? Did I do things right? I mean, I can’t go back; I can’t tell them the truth now, can I?”

The questions came thick and fast, self-doubt heavy in all of them. Deceit, unfortunately, had to agree with Patton’s question. If he told them the truth now, Roman and Virgil would most likely take it the wrong way. But then again, if he continued, it could make things a whole lot worse. Deceit pondered the problem for a while, before reaching a conclusion. However, he had to be quick, his time of truth was nearing an end and he could feel the need to lie rear it’s unwanted head inside him. _Just a few more minutes,_ he pleaded, hoping he could get the words out with time to spare.

“If you tell them now, they might forgive you. They can help you Patton, I’ve seen them do it before. The way you all interact with each other is like a family, bonded together so strongly that you make up the core of a person. You **are** that person.”

By ‘person’ he was, of course, referring to Thomas. Patton lifted his head, having lowered it in his confession and saw the sense in what Deceit had said, looking at the other Side with admiration. Until he sensed that something was wrong. Being connected to Thomas’ emotions, Patton could feel changes in how any of the Sides felt, including Deceit. He looked at the liar with concern as the Side in question closed his eyes, sighing in defeat as a green glow began to emanate off him. A few seconds later and it was gone, the yellow snake-like eye overtaking the brown hue. Deceit tried to look at Patton with a resigned look, but his face held a sly, conniving grin instead. Only his eyes showed a hint of true emotion.

 

Roman had to be restrained by an equally agitated Virgil at the look that Deceit seemed to be giving Logan.

“Let me go, Virgil! He’s going to do something, I can tell!”

“Roman, he looks like that all the time. Doesn’t mean he’s gonna do anything worse than he already has.”

“But he’s a bad influence-”

“I know. Logan saw through his disguise before. Deceit can’t fool him easily.”

“But-”

“Shut up Princey.”

“Wh-”

“I said shut up.”

Roman turned around, frowning at Virgil’s rudeness, but the look that the anxious Side gave him made the intended comeback die on his tongue. It seemed that Virgil had a plan, but one that he was nervous about putting into action. Roman gently removed himself from the other and nodded his approval, confirming that whatever Virgil planned to do, he would help with.

 

The two of them approached Logan, who straightened at their presence. He watched them get closer, before standing up and retreating upstairs. For a moment, Virgil thought he saw multiple emotions flicker across his features, but they went too fast for him to process before Logan left them. Turning his head, Virgil looked at Deceit, who had a smug look of triumph plastered on his face. Yet, there was something about him that made Virgil double-check who he thought was a pathological liar. There was an odd look in his eyes; a look that contradicted everything about him, from the way he lounged on the stairs to the way his glove-clad fingers twitched with spiteful intent. Virgil glanced back at Roman, who watched the two carefully, weighing up the situation.

“What’d you do?”

Virgil’s voice was critical, distrust pouring out of every syllable he uttered. Deceit just grinned wider, showing slightly sharper teeth than the average person.

“Oh, I did nothing of concern my friend, just told him about you.”  
  
Now Roman chimed in, subtly reinforcing the previous accusation, which Virgil silently thanked him for. Sometimes, back up was necessary.

“Told him what?”

“That you trust him. Completely.”

The liar blinked like a cat in the sun, content with watching them. The two Sides looked at each other with confusion. Of course they trusted Logan, why wouldn’t they? But if this guy always lied, why would he speak what they believed to be the truth?

 

They didn’t know that the one who had gone upstairs was actually Patton. They didn’t know that he was now slumped against the door of his room, in an absolute mess, trying to figure out if this was the right thing to do. Logan wasn’t here anymore and now his departure was starting to affect the mindspace, creating moments of confusion in the minds of the remaining Sides. Patton felt too stressed to think clearly and couldn’t seem to figure out that what Virgil did to calm down might help him now. He missed Logan, he hated himself for lying to Roman and Virgil, and he didn’t know if Deceit was trying to help or hinder him. His heart ached, longing for everything to be back to normal. Finally, the tears fell, soaking into his trousers as he tried to keep himself quiet, not wanting the others to hear him. He felt like a failure, to himself and to them.

He hoped Logan was alright.


	4. I'm Not That Side Anymore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They'd found 'Patton', but he'd changed. Too much is off and the others don't know whether to trust him or not. Heck, they don't know if they can even trust themselves or each other at this point.
> 
> Can Deceit help them work things out, or will he lead them astray yet again? You can never truly tell with that snake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got a _biiit_ obsessed with a song from The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals so I incorporated it into this. You're welcome.

A door.

Now, you probably wouldn’t think that ‘a door’ warrants its own sentence but here, it does. Four Sides, three cores and one not, were staring at a door that none of them had ever seen before. Deceit had been tipped off, by an unnamed Side, that something was different about the dark landscape that non-core Sides called their ‘humble abode’. Really, it was just a pitch-black nothingness where they all floated about while the four core Sides got their own little homey place to be in. It was quite disappointing actually. But here, today, the day that things had taken a fall, was the day that a mysterious door wavered into view.

A door that had a strange, electric green aura around it.

A door that gave the impression of a higher power.

A door that made Virgil’s anxiety shoot through the roof, meaning he had to be taken away before things got nasty.

It had Roman gripping the handle of his sword and made Deceit nervous, even though he tried to hide it.

 

Patton couldn’t get anything from the door, except for the looming sense of dread that crept up his back and attached itself firmly to his spine. He had to take a few steps back so that he wouldn’t break character and folded his arms, making it appear that he was merely analysing the door and not freaking out about it.

 

Eventually, Virgil slowly came back, visibly shaking with indecision. He didn’t know if he should stay or go. To go would mean either A) dragging everyone back with him, or B) leaving them alone. If he left them alone, he wouldn’t be able to protect them and they could get hurt but if he dragged them back, they’d probably never find Patton and that hurt. The choices fought inside him, screaming for dominance, begging to be chosen. Both things made sense yet didn’t at the same time. So there Virgil stood, poised to run but looking back at Logan and Roman with concern.

 

Roman surveyed the scene before him, taking in all the details he could see. Even after being persuaded by Logan that Deceit was trying to help them, he still didn’t trust the snake and so he scrutinized him first.

As usual, Deceit wore the cocky smirk he was so famous for, tugging his gloves down every so often and making an effort to look unaffected by the door. However, it unnerved even the likes of him and Roman could tell. He had spent a few hours with Virgil, on a particularly challenging night where neither of them could get any sleep, studying pictures of other people to see if there could be any hidden motives in their expressions or movements. Of course, Virgil had outdone him, but the anxious Side had been doing this repeatedly for years.

Letting his eyes drift, he landed on Virgil, trying to piece together what his mind was buzzing with now. However, he could only get one small thing from the guarded Side. He was scared and indecisive, stuck between two options. Roman sighed, wishing he could help, but he had to finish his task first. Virgil would snap out of whatever he was in eventually.

Logan appeared to be as confident as ever, slight confusion written across his face. Normally, similar to how he read Virgil, Roman couldn’t get much from Logan. However, this time there was something slightly different about him. The way his eyes were jumping around instead of the usual slow and measured pace that he examined things with. Then again, this was an abnormal situation and with Roman already concerned for Virgil, he chalked it up to that and made his way over.

 

Deceit noticed the creative Side watching him, but didn’t make any indication that he knew. Instead, he studied Patton carefully, marking the subtle differences between him and who he was trying to portray. Patton knew the other Sides incredibly well, so falling into their mannerisms wasn’t too hard. Deceit could still see the slight tension in Patton’s shoulders, meaning he was trying his best to not reveal what he was up to. Once again, Deceit wanted to comfort Patton but there were multiple factors that stopped him from doing so.

One being that the door wasn’t just glowing anymore.

No, now it had started to spark, electricity flaring around the frame and snapping at different points in the darkness. As there was nothing there, nothing lit up but an eerie glow lingered for a few moments at the end of each line, dotting the darkness with pale green splodges.

 

Patton stumbled backwards in alarm. Virgil had surged forwards and pulled him back, away from the door.

“This isn’t safe.”

The anxious Side hissed into his ear, clearly distressed. Patton was a little relieved when Roman intervened, trying to talk Virgil down quietly. Patton corrected his tie and turned around, looking at Virgil carefully.

“It’s bad news, I don’t like that door, it’s just-just too…gah!”

“Too what?”

“You’ve got eyes, Princey, can’t you see it!?”

Patton noticed Roman’s expression soften, looking to him for help.

“Logan?”

“Hm?”

The other Side gestured to Virgil, who was frantically looking between them with blazing eyes. Patton let his posture relax the tiniest bit as he considered his options. _Do I do the usual method or not? How can I calm him down as Logan, how does he do it?_ Although Patton knew most things about all of the core Sides, he didn’t know Logan’s methods. Choosing his words carefully, Patton spoke with slow and calming tones. Or at least, he hoped so.

“Virgil, this may be the place where Patton is.”

“I know but-”

“If we get hurt, we get hurt trying to save our friend. That’s all we’re here for, correct?”

“W-well yeah, but…more could happen…”

Patton must have looked confused because Virgil continued on at a rather fast pace.

“Like…like something **really** bad is gonna happen. We could be dissolved or significantly injured or changed in ways we don’t understand!”

He stopped, panting softly. Alarm bells were ringing in both his and Patton’s heads but the fatherly Side needed to address a different concern and looking at Roman, it seemed like he needed clarification too.

“I’m sorry, dissolved?”

He studied Virgil curiously as said Side turned away, silently cursing himself. Clearly, he wasn’t meant to say that. Patton was about to smile encouragingly at him, but stopped himself just in time. Logan didn’t show his emotions much, if at all.

 

Virgil sighed, resigning himself to the inevitable. He had let slip something that he hoped to never come across again, but he could see the curiosity burning in both Roman and Logan’s eyes. Looking at Deceit, he found amusement staring back at him, causing Virgil to scowl at him. Deceit merely raised an eyebrow, nonplussed. Turning his head to face the other Sides again, Virgil reluctantly told them what he meant.

“Dissolved means that we fade away if we get severely mortally injured. Even in the imagination, so **you** are very lucky Roman.”

The mentioned Side’s eyes widened in shock and he had look down at the floor as Virgil continued.

“We don’t leave completely, our ideas and mentality and stuff stay around, but when we rematerialize, it’s not the same person. Everything we experienced as **us** is wiped clean.”

“So a clean slate then?”

“Exactly.”

Logan hummed thoughtfully, thinking it through. Virgil looked away from him to see a shaken Roman studying the floor with clenched fists. His mouth twisted into a rueful smirk as he crouched down in front of the prince.

“Hey, you’re alive man. That’s good.”

He wasn’t the best at comfort but he could do it reasonably well and it looked like Roman needed a little uplifting. Roman looked at Virgil pitifully, a small amount of fear evident in his eyes.

“You said I…I could have…”

“Yeah, I did. But you haven’t, so all’s good. Right?”

He was saying this partly to keep himself grounded and partly to reassure Roman that he was fine. It seemed to work, as Roman swallowed and raised his head with determination. Virgil smirked and stood up, opting to watch Deceit instead.

 

Deceit was still pondering the whole ‘random electric door’ problem. It intrigued him greatly, even more so than Patton and Logan switching places. He understood that Logan had left but he didn’t know the reason behind it. He placed a gloved hand on the centre of the door, as the electricity was around the edges, and felt soft vibrations coming through it. Humming to himself, he pulled back and walked past Patton.  
  
“Nothing moves.”

He whispered into the moral Side’s ear as he passed, letting Patton know that something was definitely up with the door. He saw the other nod subtly and as he stood a small way away from Roman and Virgil, he saw Patton get closer to the door. In his peripherals, Deceit saw the anxious and creative Sides tense up, fearful for their friend’s safety, as Patton drew ever closer. The energy around the door seemed to close in on Patton, but it never touched him, causing slight fear to flutter in Deceit’s stomach. He too, was aware of the danger and as alert as the others but his main reason for existing was hiding any hint of genuine concern under a thick layer of ‘I couldn’t care less’.

 

As soon as he touched the door, Patton could feel the vibrations there. He retracted his hand carefully, scanning the surface of the door intently.

“Logan…”

Patton glanced back at the other three Sides, partially acknowledging Virgil’s concerned whisper. He hated ignoring people, especially Virgil, but he had to be Logan. That’s who they thought he was.

A loud crack sounded around them as the electricity flared again, echoing into nothing as the door shivered. The handle turned ever so slowly, making it creak and Patton, once again, had to move quickly, not wanting to be pulled over by the force of Virgil’s grip on his shoulder. He didn’t need to look at him to know the expression that would be shown. A grim-faced Virgil glanced over at him, but when his eyes slid further on, Patton had to turn around to see what had caught the other’s attention. There was an audible gasp from Roman as Patton saw something he’d only recently seen, and it looked **extremely** suspicious in this context.

 

Virgil’s grip on Logan’s shirt tightened and he could feel Roman move closer to them. With wide eyes and a broken yelp, Virgil saw Deceit begin to…glow? Suspicion ringing loud in his head and slight fear dulling his hearing, he backed up, dragging Logan back with him. However, he bumped into Roman, who had seemingly frozen. Virgil rolled his eyes, groaning lowly, but then gasped as Logan wrenched himself from his grasp, brushing himself down and turning to Deceit. The bright light had faded, but nothing seemed to have changed about the liar, except that he now stood with a withdrawn expression and not the easy, laid-back and nefarious look he usually had. The sinister glint in his eyes had vanished, leaving Virgil feeling uneasy. When someone’s appearance changes that subtly, it’s usually bad news.

 

To Roman, it looked as if Deceit had brainwashed them. Or something. He had no clue what was going on, what with Virgil backed up against him and Logan supposedly alright with things. He gave a highly puzzled look to the logical Side while trying to get Virgil to move because he was stuck between the other Side and a non-physical wall.

Which was very annoying.

Eventually, Roman had to shimmie out from between Virgil and this ‘wall’ to be able to walk to Logan.  
  
“So, what do you think?”  
  
“About what?”

Roman frowned a little. Logan wasn’t normally so spaced-out, in fact, Roman couldn’t remember Logan **ever** spacing out for anything.  
  
“About, y’know, whatever he’s just done.”  
  
“Oh, that. I already know about it.”

His mouth dropped open, staring a Logan stupidly for a few seconds.

“E-Excuse me!?”

“I already knew. Deceit showed me earlier.”

“And how can you trust him? His name literally means he’s a liar.”

“Simple. I asked questions. He answered truthfully.”

Roman shook his head in disbelief, looking at Deceit with a grimace. Deceit stared back intensely, the strange light from the door being reflected in his eyes. The creative Side shuddered and turned away, eyes shut and blocking his view of the electricity that reached around, looking for purchase on thin air. It also stopped him from noticing that Virgil had moved around to the back of Deceit, waiting for a chance to stop him by any means necessary.

 

With his fast reflexes, Virgil could just about out-manoeuvre Deceit, pinning him to the ground but keeping him at arm’s length. Deceit’s eyes widened, flashing with surprise. He hadn’t realised Virgil was that fast. He had to tear his eyes from the other Side’s, facing away from the burning hatred that was evident in them. A soft sigh escaped him as he looked at Patton for some form of help. If that was possible. He didn’t know if Patton trusted him yet and he wouldn’t be surprised if he never trusted him. He would always be a liar and liars could never be reliable.

 

Patton walked over and was about to ask if Virgil could get off Deceit, when an unsure voice sounded through the room. Obviously, it was the only other Side available.

“Uhh, guys? I think you’ll want to see this…”  
  
Patton’s head snapped up, as did Virgil’s, while Deceit just stayed where he was. He’d wait for them to move it seemed. The two joined Roman where he stood and followed his gaze, Patton’s eyes widening at what he saw. It went a little blurry at the top as his glasses slid down his nose, but he pushed them back up again.

 

A kaleidoscope of colour and electricity had seemingly exploded behind the open door, creating an almost hypnotic effect. It crackled and spun, similar to how the frame of the door was still covered in green light. All the Sides felt something from the door but it was indiscernible to them, even Patton. Roman and Virgil wore similar expressions that could be seen as a combination of fear, confusion and fascination. Deceit had stood up and come across to peek at the door. His eyes visibly widened and he ducked back, turning away from the door. Patton was initially in the same state as Virgil and Roman, but when he saw Deceit back up he shook himself out of his trance and followed curiously. Checking on the other two Sides briefly, he saw that they were transfixed by whatever lay beyond the threshold of the door. They wouldn’t notice him follow Deceit.

So he did just that.

He came in from the side, like he would do if Virgil had a panic attack, to make sure he didn’t spook him. Scanning the other’s face, he could see pure fear and deep concern melding together.

“Do you know what it is?”  
  
The liar could only nod, too rattled to give an audible reply. Patton frowned slightly and waited to see if Deceit was going to explain anything. When it was clear that nothing else was going to be said, the moral Side decided to try and nudge an answer out of him.

“Can you tell me what it is?”  
  
“You…you don’t want to know…”

Deceit’s voice came out as a hoarse whisper, which made Patton’s concern sky-rocket. Making sure he was hidden from the view of Roman and Virgil, he went into what everyone called ‘dad mode’. His eyes hardened ever so slightly, voice dropping a couple of tones.

“Deceit, I have to know if it’s going to hurt anyone. Tell me. Now.”

The Side in question stiffened, stunned by how forceful Patton was, but there was something in his tone that made him speak.

“I-It’s a door to…maybe the darkest part of Thomas’ mind.”  
  
Patton raised an eyebrow.

“Maybe?”  
  
“Ok, it **is** the darkest part of Thomas’ mind.”  
  
“…Oh boy.”

Deceit walked off, trying to sort out some form of explanation while he walked. Patton returned to ‘normal’ and went over to Virgil and Roman, who were finally breaking out of whatever trance they had been in. When they asked how long they had been out, Patton said that it had been only a few minutes.

“Only a few minutes!?”

Virgil was miffed. Patton flinched slightly, but kept a steady gaze on him.

“That is what I said Virgil.”  
  
“I’m pretty sure we’ve been out longer than that.”  
  
Before Patton could say anything about timing, a certain prince butted in.

“Where’s Deceit?”  
  
The moral Side mentally face-palmed, knowing that it wouldn’t stop Virgil from demanding an answer.

“He’s not here Roman, that’s all you need to know. But what I want to know is how long we were stuck staring at…whatever that is!”

He pointed to the door and Patton glanced at it, still seeing the floating oil-spill phasing in and out of existence. Honestly, he didn’t know how long they had been there so he scrambled for a number.

“…Seven minutes.”

Patton reassured himself that such a specific number would keep up the ruse and it appeared that Lady Luck was on his side today because that answer satisfied Virgil. It seemed to anyway.

~~~~~~

Maybe half an hour later, the four Sides were stood in front of the door. With a lot of awkward questions and confusing answers, Patton had finally convinced Roman and Virgil that Deceit was somewhat trustworthy in this state. Of course, everyone still had their doubts and Deceit never blamed them for it. The only thing stopping them from entering the mysterious access point was the mutual sense of another presence, watching them from all over. Yet there was no one there. The electricity was crackling gently, almost like a log fire but without the warm and cosy feel. Patton had to be the first to move, as the others were a bit shell shocked. This door appeared to have recurring effects and they were hitting the moral Side with full force. However, he had to push down everything they tried to bring up, forcing himself to step over the threshold of the door. The plethora of lights and energy nearly overwhelmed him and he had to steady himself with the door frame, which was warm and buzzed under his touch. He felt a hand press into the small of his back and turning his head, he saw that Virgil had followed him to help.

Two down, two to go.

They turned to see how Roman and Deceit were reacting. It was almost as if Roman had been put on pause. He was just staring blankly at them with vague confusion, while Deceit had a look of grim determination set on his face. Stiffly, the liar moved towards them and joined them on the other side of the doorway.

One left.

Just as Roman began to move, the area behind the door warped, changing into a dark corridor. All of the colour that was there previously had vanished, leaving a bright after image in Virgil’s vision as he had been the only one watching the trippy swirls. Roman snapped back to reality, blinking a little but managing to cross over.

 

The door slammed behind them, disappearing in a puff of smoke and making the Sides jump violently as the sound echoed down the empty corridor, bouncing eerily off the walls and slowly fading away. Underneath the bang, was soft laughter that got under the skin of all those present. It sounded disjointed, inhuman, yet completely real. The electricity from the door ran along the wall erratically, popping loudly in the deathly silence of the passageway. Deceit audibly swallowed, making Virgil glance over and for once, it appeared that whatever Deceit was feeling was genuinely portrayed on his face. That made Virgil **really** start to worry.

If Deceit was scared, then what was this place?

Like the true hero he was, Roman put himself in front of everyone with his sword out and ready for anything that could attack from the front. It was more of a subconscious thing but everybody felt slightly less tense at having the prince defend them. He just naturally assumed the protective position, a bit like how Virgil always made sure they were all safe and certain before going anywhere. They all had their little quirks and that made Patton miss Logan more. Although, as none of the other Sides knew about the switch apart from Deceit, this realisation made Roman and Virgil miss Patton instead.

It was painful to see when Patton knew he was right there with them.

 

They had to move soon or else they would risk never moving at all. With a cough, Roman took a step and everyone else followed. They moved as one, almost like a team.  But they were a team that could crumble at any moment. Slight distrust hung in the air above them like a dark cloud and no one really knew who was safe and who wasn’t. It was all a game of chance.

~~~~~~

Around the corner and a few feet from the newcomers, was Logan. He had heard the door slam shut when he had come out from an interview with **her**. Someone who, quite clearly, wasn’t right in the head. Ever since he had been pushed into this part of the mindscape, things that originally were ordered and made sense in his head were now jumbled up with all the tiny things he had ever had doubts about.

Seeing the electricity dissipate into the seams of the walls sparked his curiosity. He knew that there was only one door that could do that. The same door that had looked charred and basically dead when he was escorted through it. A small smile of satisfaction made its way onto his face as he pivoted back towards where he had come from, walking smartly back down the hall. Like the electricity earlier, his footsteps were loud, shoes clicking on the hard floor and Logan was certain it would get their attention. He knew he was always right and forever would be.

 

Entering a large chamber that was equally as dark and derelict as the rest of this area, the logical Side stopped on the faint outline of the centre of a sun carving on the floor. The lines began to glow brightly, light zipping around the room. If Logan tried to move, he wouldn’t be able to go anywhere. He was trapped now, forced to stand and speak what he knew.

“Any news Logic?”  
  
“They’ve arrived.”

A low chuckle came from the shadows, a light shudder running through him as a figure moved towards him.

“I still make you uncomfortable, don’t I? Don’t worry, **you’ll get used to me soon**.”

He didn’t doubt that. Already he could feel that as she got ever closer, the bizarre aura she carried was coiling around him, infiltrating his head and sinking to the bottom like a stone in water. The glow from her eyes burned in his mind, little embers of neon green flecking his own irises.

“ **Better Logan?** ”

Logan’s eyes glazed over completely when she said his name, turning him into a temporary puppet for the other Side to use as she wished.

“Now then, I want you to go out and bring them here. Now. Without hesitation. Don’t even let them ask you questions, they’ll surely want to know where you’ve been.”

A blank stare was all the female Side got in response. A demonic grin split her face in two and she stepped back, electricity crunching under her feet like dead leaves in autumn. Once again, the sound was eerily loud, but not loud enough to wake Logan from whatever he was in. She had him under her thumb.

“Go!”

Her voice was a whisper that echoed around the room, sending a chill through Logan but he didn’t feel it. The change in temperature never registered in his head, blank and misty as it was. The woman turned him around and pushed him through the door, making him stumble.

 

That stumble is what led him to the other Sides. They had been moving slowly along the corridor and stopped to listen to what sounded like a conversation through the door. Luckily, they hadn’t heard Logan’s name. Problem was, when said Side practically fell on top of them, Patton cringed hard. He and Logan looked almost the same except the tie that the logical Side usually wore was missing and his shirt was plain.

Clearly, the similarities between the two confused everyone else and even Deceit looked surprised. Patton stared at Logan for a second, elation surging through him because they’d found him so quickly and he was safe now. Right?

Wrong.

Patton knew as soon as he thought it that he was wrong, because the odd glint in the other Side’s eyes made him suspicious. Elation turned to cold dread as Logan looked at the door that they had just been listening at. All five of them faced what was stood there. Or rather, **who** was stood there.

 

With a gleeful smirk and a tilt of the head, electricity and smoke merging together, the figure of a woman walked forwards. She didn’t say a word, but Logan moved on autopilot behind her and disappeared through the door. The room behind her was black, sucking the light out of everything. Patton’s senses got overloaded, being attacked from all sides by the rush in emotion.

Virgil, scared and determined and jumpy.

Roman, protective and confused.

Deceit, doubtful and nervous and knowing.

The moral Side had to subtly lean on the wall behind him, eyes shut as he tried to not collapse from the sheer force of one certain Side. She alone was enough to scramble his mind and send it reeling in every direction at once.

 

But now he knew.

 

Now he knew who she was, why Deceit was so apprehensive about telling him, why this place put him, and everyone else, off so much.

She was the one who had manipulated Logan. That had to be the reason behind why he left.

“You figured me out?”

She was talking to him.

Patton’s eyelids fluttered open and he looked at her weakly, unable to look at anyone else because he knew what he would see in their eyes and that would have been unbearable. She grinned wider, watching him with mad joy in her expression. He swallowed hard, trying to force the words out of his mouth.

“Come on, you can say it.”

She was pretending to encourage him, annoying them all and setting Virgil even more on edge than he already was.

“Y-You…you took him…”

“Mmm, so what if I did? What can you do?”

 

**“Morality…”**

 

_Shit._

Patton sank to the floor, unable to keep himself up any longer. His face burned as he realised that was all the confirmation Virgil and Roman needed for any suspicions they might have had.

Deceit too, slumped to the floor, but more like he had been pushed. He looked up at the female Side with anger and desperation but just as he opened his mouth, a green glow emanated from him. She smirked and spun around, hair fanning out behind her.

“C̱̪̜̬̫͝ơ̥ͅm̨͍̯e̸̼ ̭i̖͎̺͎n̷ ̪̼wh̳͇̫̘̲̹̳e͉͍n͟ͅe̮̞v̷̭̺̥͔̫̬e̩̗̝͍̘͖͟r̻ ͕̮̝̻͉y̰͚̮͔o͕̗̩͓u̖͕̯̱͙̰͈͡'͕͓r҉͇̤̺e̸ ̷͕͇r͍͈͍e̶̹̥̩̟̳͎a̤͍̖͖̥ͅd̡̯̗y̩̺̳͟!̹͎”

With confidence coming off her in waves, she strode through the door. Her laughter cut through the air like a hot knife through butter, painfully sharp and menacing. It seemed almost as if the laughter had a mind of its own, egging on the upcoming storm that was about to explode through the tiny area.

As the giggles decayed in the stuffy atmosphere, Patton lifted his head and dragged his eyes up to reluctantly meet Virgil’s, which were glaring at him with a blend of different emotions and burning questions. The moral Side just looked away again, mind shut off. Now he knew he was a failure.

“ **Who** was **that**!?”

Virgil could barely keep the anger out of his voice as Patton shrugged and looked at Deceit for the answer. However, when he noticed the slight change in appearance, he groaned and slammed his head against his knees, eyes tight shut and refusing to look up.

 

Virgil glanced between the two, hands clenching and unclenching with anxious fury. He stared at Roman until the creative Side realised how quiet it was and crouched down in front of Deceit. The liar grinned smugly, watching Roman with unreadable eyes.

“You know who she was, don’t you?”  
  
“…No…”

The prince rolled his eyes but continued, knowing that the ‘no’ really meant ‘yes’. Logan and Virgil had told him that normally, whatever Deceit said, he meant the opposite.

“Name?”

Deceit fiddled with his gloves.

“Well, she definitely hasn’t lost it.”  
  
“I’m sorry, ‘lost it’? What do you mean?”

Before he could reply, there was a soft curse behind him. Standing and turning in one motion, Roman locked eyes with Virgil, who had been listening to the exchange. Roman frowned at him as he saw who he now knew was Patton curl in on himself in his peripherals. Virgil simply ignored the fatherly Side and gestured towards the door.

“She’s mad, Roman. Literally mad.”

“So, like, completely cuckoo? Nuts?”

“Yeah…”

Virgil sighed heavily and felt like joining the other two on the floor.

“The embodiment of Insanity herself.”

~~~~~~

After the revelation of Patton and Logan’s switch and of Insanity’s existence, four Sides sat on the floor of the dingy corridor inside the darkest part of Thomas’ mind.

Deceit surveyed the other three, worry in the back of his mind and an intrigued look plastered on his face. Patton had been scolding himself and silently crying for the past few minutes, knees drawn up to his chest and head down. His glasses lay discarded and abandoned next to him, clothes having shifted back to normal. Roman and Virgil were talking to each other in low voices, barely a whisper penetrating the area. Deceit sat up, watching the two Sides and straining to catch any stray words of their conversation. Although, because his natural state had returned, it looked as if he was trying to intrude on the conversation and glean information for malicious purposes. For a moment, he forgot about Virgil’s observation skills and was startled when a figure covered in purple suddenly appeared in front of him.

Raising his eyes, he saw Virgil outlined with purple energy that crackled with the anxious Side’s increasing stress. Deceit knew that each of them possessed a sort of energy that they could use to change their surroundings, with Roman having the strongest since he was Creativity and connected to the Imagination. Seeing him in this state unnerved the liar and he shifted awkwardly, watching him carefully. He saw as Virgil very nearly blasted him through the wall he was leaning against and how he had to forcefully move away from everybody to try and calm down. Deceit’s expression never changed as he saw Roman give him a look that said _“You better be careful!”_

He’d messed up again. Of course he had, he always did.

One look at Patton however, told him that the moral Side felt like he was the screw up in this situation. Deceit’s snake eye flickered between the two before Roman stared him down. The creative Side could be quite threatening at times.

 

Back in the darkness, Logan watched all that happened. Any emotions that he might have buried beforehand had pretty much been stripped away, leaving him with no opinion on how the other Sides had reacted. Insanity slipped behind him, resting her chin on his shoulder with tendrils of static and smoke curling around his middle. Logan felt her throat vibrate against him as she hummed thoughtfully.

“Y’know, we could do with Sides like them.”

Logan blinked, shifting a little. He still wasn’t completely under her control, but he couldn’t get through the white noise in his head. It just made him want to curl up and never get out, letting the female Side dominate him.

“How do you suggest we get them?”

She chuckled, gripping his arms with cold, sharp fingers.

“I knew you’d come around eventually. Tell them what they want to hear, make them follow you.”

“What would they want to hear?”

A sudden tap on his left temple made Logan wince.

“You already know Logic. **Tẹ̸̠̯͖l̻̺͙͍̤l̙͔̲͍̩͟ͅ ̞̭͚̟̥͡t̻͍̭͍h̲͝e̸m͇̜̼͠ ̩̖͍̭͘e͟x͙̜͇͎̺͎͟ą̪̤̭̗c̖̲̭t̷̳͎̻͖̘l̪̦̼͙̻͝ͅy̢̺̱̥̣̰͇͉ ̳͍͚̜̥̤w̩̟̪͢h̬̟̫̬o̝͓̙̼̜̜͙ ̺̳̞͇͖͡yo̺u̜ͅ ̩͇͈̟͢a̹͉̖̭̭ṛ̼͝e̺̱̣̜̙.҉̙̼͚̟..** ”

~~~~~~

The remaining Sides had come back together and were stood outside the door, nervous and intrigued and horrified at what they’d see. There was still a lot of tension and hostility between them, with most of it being directed at Patton. The moral Side had come to accept that this was his fate and it upset him greatly. He had never intended for things to blow up so much, but then again, it never made any sense why he did what he did in the first place.

Logan’s absence had been stronger than any of them realised.

The thoughts running through his head were obviously weighing him down, making Patton look exhausted even though it had been less than an hour since Insanity had exposed him. Virgil recognised the signs of stress, but he himself was too worked up to care, which was rare when it came to his affection for the fatherly Side. Patton cared for him and he actually cared back, though he would never admit it in words. Patton stood a little way behind them, playing around with the sleeves of his jumper absentmindedly as Roman called upon all of the skills he had learnt while journeying through the Imagination. They had to think out a plan to get Logan back and Virgil reasoned that it was a good idea if Roman took the lead because he certainly wasn’t going to do it. There was some bickering between them for a few minutes about why Roman had to lead them and why Virgil was getting so defensive, until Deceit put his hands over their mouths with a profoundly irritated look.

“You’re getting things done so quickly that I can’t keep up.”

That got them agreeing again. Deceit simply listened to the two, not really able to give any input that wouldn’t be a massive, confusing lie. Not for the first time did the liar feel frustrated at what he could and couldn’t control. Talking was easy, but the shift between truth and lies wasn’t so simple. Sure, he could force himself to be truthful with a little dedication, but that would mean that the lying would come back twice as hard. He had been created out of dishonesty and falsehood which meant that he would eternally lie more than tell the truth. However, if the other Sides could interpret what he said, that would make things a whole lot easier and maybe, just maybe, they would let him join in every now and then.

 

A low hum snuck up on them, none of them noticing it at first until the first ghostly word was spoken with malevolent poison and a catchy tune.

**_“He’s not that Side anymore…”_ **

Though her voice was smooth like warm syrup, the four Sides could hear the dark connotations. At the end of the hallway, Insanity stood watching them, her voice carrying farther than should be possible. With a flick of her fingers, the door they were in front of dissolved into mist as Logan seemed to coalesce from electricity in front of her. Smoke wafted from his form almost as if he was a freshly oven-baked pastry. Hair had fallen in front of his face, obscuring his eyes and his glasses were tinted with the neon green glow that would  have been seen in his eyes if they were visible. Similar to an anime, the top half of his face was dark, his posture stiff. Logan was a puppet with the joints held at unnatural angles. It wasn’t obvious, but the extreme subtlety was unsettling. Insanity just grinned widely, half her face becoming a mask of pointed teeth with sparking eyes that glared daggers at them all.

 

**_“̛I’̧̧͜m͞͝ ̴҉n͟͜o̧t͞ ҉̶t̷h̴͢͞e̛ ̶Sid̨̛ȩ̵̸ ͟t̸̴ha̧͘t̶͟ ̷̢͘y̡ǫ̴̧u ̢ç͠a͠m̛ȩ ̡h͜e͏re̡͘ ͘͏f͢͝oŗ҉.͞...”_ **

The logical Side’s voice was distorted and jumped around the tight space unevenly, sending chills down everyone’s spines. Patton looked up at Logan with tears brimming in his eyes but he didn’t say anything as he reunited with the floor, curling back up and staring blankly into space. Roman felt afraid and angry, standing behind Patton with shaking fists as he eyes flashed between the two conflicting teams; first at Virgil and Deceit, then to Logan and Insanity, then back again. Virgil stood with Deceit, a temporary alliance unspoken between them as they calculated their options.

  1. They could pull Logan away and run.
  2. They could run and leave Logan
  3. They could fight and lose
  4. They could fight and win.



The two looked at each other for a moment, clearly not wanting to lose Logan or fight with a Side who could probably overpower them in a heartbeat. She had influenced Logan spectacularly, power radiating from the pair.

 

**_“He’s not your friend anymore…”_ **

Patton’s eyes were dull when his head jerked up, emotions flowing through him and melding together into a toxic soup of negativity. Anger, stress, annoyance, sorrow, pain and more flash on his face. Logan wasn’t his friend? Serves him right, with what he did. His eyes were glued on the logical Side and his puppet master, silently willing him to come back.

_Please Logan. Please come back to us...We miss you._

A single tear slid down his face and he went back to shutting everyone out.

 

**_“I took over his body, he’s under MY control!”_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good grief did this take forever to write! Just over ten pages on a word document, phew. Quite a lot considering that Chapters 1 and 2 took about three pages each and Chapter 3 took six.

**Author's Note:**

> First work. Any advice, comments, criticism, whatever? Go for it!! If I've finished this, then it's a flippin' miracle!


End file.
